The Trident A-Range Classic Console EQ

In this edition, we’ll be featuring an in-depth demo video of the Trident A-Range EQ plug-in for UAD-1 and UAD-2. For those who don’t already know, the Trident A-Range console was developed in the early 1970s by a team of audio engineers led by Malcom Toft, the chief engineer at Trident Studio in London. These engineers wanted a console that sounded the way they thought it should, right down to the fixed frequencies in the EQ section. Almost 40 years later, working in partnership with Trident Audio Developments, Universal Audio scrutinized and painstakingly reproduced the EQ section from one of these extremely rare desks.

In this video, I used the Trident A-Range EQ as the only EQ plug-in for the entire session. I found that the Trident A-Range is not a surgical EQ, it’s more of a tone box. By restricting myself to using only the Trident EQ on this session, I was actually able to work faster, and have fun experimenting. EQs like this make you think about the vibe of the recording, first and foremost. After all, that’s how many great hit records were mixed. The Trident plug-in also captures some of the sound of a '70s recording, which can be just the thing your mix needs.

Of course if you need a more surgical EQ, then by all means reach for a Cambridge or Precision EQ, but part of the fun of the Trident is imposing a limit on yourself, which can foster more creative mixing choices.